Fall
by cooperoli
Summary: A year ago, everyone over the age of 14 became diseased. The lucky ones died, but those who remained became so twisted and mental that they craved the taste of the children's flesh. These zombies became the monsters in the kids nightmares, and the creatures lurking under their beds. Now they are not considered human, and so nicknamed 'Creepers'. By cooperoli and CKTV.
1. Chapter 1

_Blood slid down from her lips, a sword and now useless gun gripped in her hands. Brown eyes glittered over the wreckage they had created. From the five that had attended, only one walked away. 'Anna what have you done?' she thought. _

Incoherent words echoed through the buildings that made up the school. Somehow the sounds would always get the frizzy-haired girl into a relaxed state of mind.

"Anna, is it true that you fought all those creepers?" A small girl spoke, her voice full of admiration.

"Hm?" The soft voice drew through the atmosphere around them. "Oh no I could never do anything like that." A small laugh continued after the words finish.

Olivia poked her head through the doorway, an eyebrow raised. "Anna, there's a meeting." The other elder looked up at the girl who had intruded into the situation. The lighter female flicked her bright blue eyes towards the child with her, their hands stilled onto the vegetables they planted to create food for when their supplies would cease to exist.

"Okay. Sorry Charlotte, I shall get someone to come and help you out. They will protect you too." With that said she picked herself up from the ground, her dark hand reaching to grab her sword. The other reaching to grasp Charlotte's. Once they stood up, they followed to engage their brains into the forthcoming meeting.

Charlotte left for the hall before the girls could get very far. It wasn't their fault, the school buildings just creeped her out. She would rather stay with her friends. "Bye Anna!" She called cheerily as she left. "Bye Lottie!"

"Anna." The said girl looked up, then continued to follow the girl who called for her.

"Libbinator." Anna smiled at the nickname she had called her friend of what seems so long ago now. "How's everything? All in order?"

"Yes, don't worry." Her tone escaped in a dark sound. Anna's lips parted as if to litter her friend's ears with words, but decided to close and form a small forced smile.

_The two girls precariously moved their way around the bodies of the grown-ups who had attacked them, as well as the bodies of their former friends. "We can't just leave them here." Anna whispered, overcome by the guilt of letting them die. _

"_Well we can__'__t drag them home. We__'__re two girls Anna. Even if we could do it, think of the Creepers we would attract by carrying all of this fresh meat.__"__ Said Olivia. _

Anna knew that she couldn't blame Olivia for her bitterness. She had lost her brother and sister, just as Anna had lost her older brother George to the disease. Snapping was just Olivia's way of coping. Not a day went by when the pair didn't miss the old days. The days when they didn't have responsibilities. "Come on Libby, we have a meeting to attend to." Anna continued.

Anna strode up the long pristine corridors of Terrington St Clements High School with Olivia right behind her. The school actually looked better than it had when it was in proper use, because it had no litter, and had no children lingering around the place. Most of the kids were too scared to even leave the sports hall. In fact, the only things that made the inside of the school look any different were the boarded up windows and the heavily armed guards dotted around.

Olivia caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror that had been placed on one of the walls. Her face looked dirty, and her hair a brown, tangled, frizzy mess. It made her smile. The only good points about her looks now were her neat white smile and her glittering blue eyes. She had never liked her appearance, yet now it didn't matter. What she lacked in looks she more than made up for in fighting ability. Olivia wore smelly, sweaty, ripped clothes and no-one cared. Prejudices had been reduced to nothing. She reached up and traced one of her scars with her finger. It was tiny on her chin, but she always remembered that scar as the one she got whilst fighting with Anna that day.

_The girls wandered their way back down the country lane that they had once used to walk to school. Anna shook, her hands drenched in the blood of Creepers, her mind reliving every gruesome detail of their latest encounter. Miraculously, she was unharmed, except the odd scratch or cut. Olivia, however, was stamping her way down the road, ignoring her bleeding chin and limp that took hold of her leg, with a foul expression plastered on her face. She had long since stopped being weak. The darker girl winced, the chilling sensation that had fuelled her, along with the adrenaline, filled her with deep regret and sorrow so that she almost collapsed. Her name was released into the cold night air._

Anna gently pushed open the darkened doors to the old Drama studio, half expecting to be late, but instead the large table was empty. "We're early." Anna said quietly as she sunk into her seat. Olivia rolled her eyes and sat opposite her. "Well done!" She joked, although there was a harsh element in her tone.

The wooden table was large, round and had twenty-four seats. In the centre of the table, a large phoenix had been engraved by one of the many artistic members of the group who rarely got to express themselves. Amy had thought that it would link us back to the days of King Arthur and his knights, and bring us together. It was one of her better ideas. The chairs that surrounded the table were of all different shapes, sizes and colours because nobody could find a matching set. Not that it mattered anyway, because with the table it still looked very impressive.

Amy walked in first, nodding a greeting to the two girls that were present. Anna was her third in command, and Amy quite trusted her. She had known Anna for a very long time, and she knew her as a quiet, thoughtful girl who never let fear or anger get the better of her judgement. But even as the leader of the kids here, Amy often wondered if the rumours involving Anna were true. How could that have been her?

Olivia's stone expression was replaced by a brief look of sympathy when she caught a glimpse of Amy. Obviously being the leader was stressing her out ,no amount of make-up that she wore could cover up the enormous bags under her eyes. Her once energetic nature had disappeared, leaving a shell of her former self behind. Her brown hair was in a bun, undoubtedly to try to hide the dirt on her, but not working very well. Amy still made an effort to look nice, unlike most residents of the school, but she took her responsibilities way too seriously and she had no social life as a result.

Amy hummed as she sat beside Anna and pulled out her green notebook. Amy liked to hum, because it calmed her. "Present: Anna Williams, Olivia Cooper and Amy Thorpe." She said, scribbling in the book. This caused Anna to laugh , which also soothed Amy. She liked to know that the people around her were still finding reason to joke around. "Sooooo…." Olivia said loudly, "Amy, how's life treating you?" Amy smiled, feeling like the adult that Olivia was suggesting that she was, and put the pencil down. "Oh, you know. A nice warm office and no Creepers. How's life on the front?"

"Dangerous, cold, lonely and damn awesome!" Olivia replied.

"Right then. Lets get this meeting started!" Jacob yelled as he burst in the room. "Wait, where is everyone?" Jacob was second in command, although everyone knew he wanted Amy's job. It had come down to a vote and Amy had only won by a single point. He had scruffy brown hair and was quite short. It was clear that he wasn't quite through with puberty, but no-one would dare say that to his face. Jacob had a good family life too, with three younger, surviving brothers. "Not here genius." Olivia said coldly. Jacob scowled at Olivia, and mumbled something about orders and punctuality as he slumped in the chair on Amy's other side. "I'll get revenge one day." He thought.

"_Anna.__"__ Olivia said, rushing to her companion__'__s side and supporting her. __"__Anna, what__'__s wrong?__"_

"_I-I killed them. I killed them all. People__'__s parents, brothers and sisters. Dead because of me.__"__ Anna staggered on, desperate not to let her frizzy-haired friend down. _

"_Anna, don__'__t be ridiculous. You were fantastic out there. They deserved to be slaughtered. You call it murder, I call it payback!__"__ Olivia said with a vicious grin. __"__Well, maybe I__'__m just a better person than you.__"__ Anna said weakly. _

"_You__'__re right. You are. But can I help it? Revenge is in my blood, and a lot of other people__'__s as well.__"_

Across the corridor in the sports hall, the younger children had gathered. The kids aged eight and below sat at one end of the hall, listening to their teacher Kirsty Calcutt, read them a story. Kirsty was perhaps the cleanest member of the school, and the other people her age envied her because of it. She wore an old white dress that was covered with little blue flowers, and tied her shiny brown hair back with a blue ribbon. Kirsty was loved by all the children because she was the closest thing that they had to a mother, but that didn't mean that she couldn't defend herself if needed.

At the opposite end of the hall, General Oliver Groves drilled the kids between the ages of eight and twelve as though they were in the army. Olly was once in the army cadets, and wore the uniform at the school. He was very strong and had strawberry-blonde hair, making him stand out from the other soldiers. He kept his BB gun with him at all times, convinced that it could kill the already weak Creepers. It was his job to train the kids to be warriors, and train them to defend the others. The weapons used were hockey sticks, broom handles with knives, and Nerf guns, to name a few. Olly believed that if the kids were trained with Nerf guns, then if they managed to get their hands on a weapon like his, they could do some real damage.

"Attention everybody!" Olly called out over his trainees. "Kirsty and I have to attend an urgent meeting. I want you to put away the apparatus, set up the trampolines and mats and get the kids to bed before I return! Do you understand?"

"Yes Sir!" The kids replied in union, clearly having rehearsed how to address their commander.

"Well get to it then!"

Kirsty took a much gentler approach to the younger kids. "Now, I have to go for a couple of hours. I want you to listen to the big kids and go to sleep. I'll be back soon enough."

"Kirsty?" Charlotte said, "Will we be okay?"

"Of course you will. Only the most important soldiers leave their posts. The night shift workers will still be on guard. Protecting you."

"Sure?" Ruben asked.

"Positive. Be good."

Kirsty rushed over to join Olly. As the two of them worked close to each other, they had become friends. "Your brother's making progress. I think I might graduate him to guard next week." Oliver said as they walked to the Drama studio. Kirsty gritted her teeth. Luke, or little Luke as he was known, was all she had left. Despite their constant arguments, she couldn't bear with the thought of anything happening to him. "Or, he could work with Ross on the fields." Kirsty suggested.

Olly balled up his fists. He didn't know why, but he always got like this when Kirsty mentioned Ross, which was often believe it or not. Well why was he getting all her attention? Kirsty was his best friend not Ross' . He barely even spoke to her nowadays. Ross the farmer over Olly the soldier. That should be no contest. Olly should win hands down. But he wasn't winning. In fact, considering everything that he had done to protect the girls here, no one had been interested in him since society collapsed. Maybe that was it. Maybe he was just getting desperate, and reminiscing over when he was with Amy or Natalie or Lucy. But then again, maybe it was real…

"After you, Miss." Ross said as he opened the door for Kirsty, causing her to giggle like a school child again. He was of equal height to Olly, and he had soft caramel hair. He forever wore a pair of dirty mustard trousers and Wellington boots, with a chequered shirt. Ross' father had worked in a garden centre, which meant that he had grown up with a wide knowledge of plants. Naturally, this meant that alongside Jacob, Ross was the head farmer.

Olly rolled his eyes and walked in, and Ross followed. Olly sat beside Anna, Ross next to Jacob, and Kirsty next to Luke Preston, or big Luke. That made twenty-four kids at the round table. "Right then!"

Amy's cheery voice rings through the hall. "I believe that's everyone. Does anyone have anything to say?"

There were a few moments of silence before Ross stood up and said "The harvest will begin tomorrow. I want to suspend training and school so that all the kids can help out. As requested, we have grown Potatoes, cabbage, carrots , apples and plums. Anna also found some other vegetable seeds that we can plant next season."

"Well, I think we all agree that food is more important than school, so yes, Suspended until further notice." Amy replied, taking note of the proceedings.

"I also thought, that as a morale booster, we could have a festival to celebrate when the harvest ends." Ross suggests.

"It's a good idea, but we don't have the supplies or any form of entertainment. I'll think about it."

Next Oliver stood up. He cleared his throat and said "The trainees are making progress. Within two weeks I can guarantee that at least five kids will be guard level." This caused some excitement around the table. Creepers were constantly killing guards and fighters, so new ones were greatly anticipated.

"Good news indeed." Amy added "Kirsty, I trust you are in a similar situation?"

"Yep. A handful of kids will move up to training soon."

"Any breakthroughs in the labs?" Amy said.

"Actually yes." Joel said, a smug smile on his face. Joel had black hair, that had recently been shaven because he had lice. He had lost tons of weight since the food shortages and now looked like one of the strongest people at the school. "Lewis, if you will." Lewis was a short boy, with dirty blonde hair and a lab coat on. He produced from under the table what looked like an iPod, only it was wedged in an ugly blue box with wires poking out of it. "We have found a way to create a solar-powered iPod dock. It charges too." Joel said pressing play.

Gangnam style blared out of the speakers, and everyone gasped. Lewis, feeling it right, stood on the table and danced. No-one joined him. The song brought back too many bad memories. "Get down Lewis." Amy sighed, wondering how he had managed to survive for this long. Joel switched off the iPod and mentally slapped his face for bringing Lewis here. "It's loaded with the best songs in history. Elvis, Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, Abba, Girls aloud, Swedish house mafia and more, from practically every period in time. Maybe we can have the festival after all." A wave of excitement crashed around the table. A party! A real life party! Jacob took it upon himself to get order back, but Amy just sat there smiling. She had done well to build a camp like this. She admired the people around her greatly, especially the brainiest. They would save her people one day, she was sure of it.

"So what about the kitchens then?" Jacob said. A small girl called Becky with black rimmed glasses illuminating her emerald eyes and straight blonde hair stood up. "Supplies are running low. We are obviously going to be okay once the harvest is in, but we need tinned goods." She squeaked. "We can't live on veg forever."

"It's a good job I have a plan then." Olivia interrupted. Everyone stared at her waiting for her to elaborate. "My sources tell me that the local co-op was shut down before the hoarding of food began. The security systems have been broken for some time now and I think there should be a load of food inside."

"Yeah, but the village is crawling with Creepers and it's a risky operation. What if they are inside?" Anna asked.

"I don't want to put too many in danger, just a small team. We'll make it up out of volunteers."

"Is it worth it?" Amy blurted

"Well it's either that or watch the kids get malnourished. You're call."

Amy thought about this for some time before saying yes. She didn't want to watch kids get ill because of her. "Fine." She eventually said "We'll do it. I'll come too, and I'm sure we can get a few volunteers. Does anyone have anything else to say?"

"I do!" Natalie exclaimed. Natalie was a girl with blonde hair reaching down to her waist, and she worked in the hospital rooms by the office. She was tall, but not as tall as Olivia. "I just want to say that due to the lice epidemic that we seem to be having, I have spoken to Lucy, our head of supplies, and managed to get everyone in the building a pack containing new clothes, that actually fit."

"So that's why we were all measured last week." Robson said. Robson was taller than most of the people there, roughly the same height as Olivia, and he managed to keep his hair gelled. He was a fighter alongside Olivia and they were friends too.

Lucy, an average looking girl with cascading dark hair and blue eyes, passed out little brown paper packages to everyone, each one labelled with the allotted person's name. Lucy didn't like to talk much and Becky was her only remaining friend. Her younger sister Fay was training with Olly most days, but Lucy knew she wasn't a fighter. She would probably have a job with Ross, Jacob or possibly Natalie.

Every night, Lucy had nightmares. She always wondered why, because she hadn't had encounters like Anna or Olivia. To stop her mind from trailing away, Lucy engrossed herself in work. She decided which supplies were needed, and which could wait. She desperately hoped that there was food in the Co-op, because as always, food was at the top of the list. Blankets and batteries were low too. The clothes had been hoarded for an entire year to get enough to dish out to people, but Lucy finally felt like she had made a difference to her community. Like she was worth something.

"I think that's everything. Good night people. The harvest begins tomorrow." Amy said, dismissing her court of people. Steadily they flowed out of the studio, a few returning to their posts, but most going to sleep in the crowded sports hall.


	2. Chapter 2

Anna linked arms with Amy and Olivia, the prospect of new clothes transforming them back into teenage girls. They never acted their age often enough. They walked into the dark corridor between the crowded sports hall and the disused changing rooms. What purpose did they serve then anyway? Nobody had more than one set of clothes and the showers didn't work.

Amy waltzed into a shower cubicle and said "Well I'm going to try these puppies on!" Anna swapped a longing glance with Olivia before they both ran into their own cubicles. Amy had a long purple gown of an evening dress with black pumps for parties and official business, as well as a green super dry hoodie and blue jeans for battle purposes. A vest top was supplied for underneath. She also got a pair of trainers.

Anna had a t-shirt with a panda printed on the front, and a pair of light blue jeans and cool blue and red trainers to complete her battle outfit. For her nice clothes, Anna had a grey top with a camouflage patterned trousers and a matching jacket.

Olivia had a pair of black jeans with a bleached front, and in certain light they appeared to sparkle. She was given a soft pink vest top and a black leather jacket as well as a pair of zip up brown boots. For an evening outfit, Olivia had a white strapless dress that poofed out at the waist into layers. She immediately found it to be way to girly and revealing, so she pulled the leather jacket over it, which made her feel much more secure.

"Wow. These are posh!" Amy said as she came out of the cubicle. She then performed a small catwalk strut and did the pose that she used to do when she joked around, involving her putting her finger on her lip. Olivia burst out laughing at that point, and Anna smiled. "Mine aren't that girly!" Anna said.  
"Come on guys. Put your casual clothes on!" Olivia called from her changing room.  
"Casual. Good word." Anna said, following Olivia's lead.

"Um, girls?" Robson called as he entered the changing room.  
"What?" Amy said ,sticking her head out from where she was changing.  
"Oh my god. I'm so sorry!" Robson said, blushing a deep shade of red. "Breakfast's ready. Sorry!" Then he hastily strode out of the changing room.

"Hear that?" Amy said when she was sure Robson had left.  
"Yeah Amy sounds like Robson got a sneak preview!" Olivia teased.  
"Shut up! I mean breakfast's ready!"  
"We know! We're only joking" Anna reassured.

The girls rushed in to the dinner hall, which now had rows of tables and chairs and was filled with children lining up to get their porridge. Most of them had already changed into their new clothes. Becky slaved away at the counter, giving each kid a dollop of the gloop because that was all she could spare. She had never wanted to be a cook, but deep down Becky knew that this job was the only thing that she could do here. She satisfied herself by thinking about all the stuff that Olivia and the others would bring back after tonight's raid.

As soon as everyone was sat down, Amy walked to the front of the hall. "I'm sure that most if you have heard by now, but there is going to be a raid on a shop today. This will be dangerous, so we ask for volunteers to meet in the foyer at 11. You will do so at your own risk." She said. The crowd once more erupted into chatter, "Also, everyone who stays behind will be required to work on the harvest."

Amy went and sat back besides her brother Sam, and finished her porridge with the rest of her clan. Anna wondered how many people would go on the raid. As it was Olivia's idea, she would go, which meant that Robson would probably go too. They were best friends after all. Amy already said she was going, but that's it. Four people isn't really enough for a successful raid, is it?

Olivia walked in to the foyer early, only to find Jess already there. Jess was a strong-looking girl who had black hair with red tips where the hair dye had grown out. She held a make shift spear made from a broom handle and was known for being a bloodthirsty fighter. "Jess. I thought you might join us." Olivia said, a smile plastered on her face.  
"Oh come on. I haven't killed a Creeper for a week! I'm going insane!" Jess replied.

Anna walked in dead on 11 with Amy and Jacob. Amy held a javelin, and Anna was going to use her sword for the raid. When they arrived they found Robson sharpening his axe, Olivia and Jess jabbering about nonsense and Big Luke holding his hockey stick. "Is this it?" Amy asked, somewhat disappointed.

"Not quite." The boy's voice echoed in everyone's mind. Sam Thorpe, Amy's brother was joining them on the raid. "Sam.." Amy began.  
"Amy, there is not point trying to dissuade me. I'm coming and there's nothing that you can do about it." Sam interrupted. He was of average height and had thick brown hair and bushy eyebrows.  
"But…"  
"Amy, maybe we should just let him come." Luke added. "He's a good fighter."  
"What?!" The frustration was burrowing its way across Amy's face.

At that moment, it was clear that Amy could have had a nervous breakdown. No-one dared to challenge her. No one except Sam. "Look Amy, Dad made me promise to look after you. That's what I intend on doing." Amy looked fit to cry for a second. She swallowed the tears that were forming and said "Fine. But you stick to Jess like glue."

"Are we ready then?" Robson asked, clearly just as itching for battle as everyone else. The air went quiet with anticipation and Jacob gave Amy a tight squeeze. "Look after yourself." He whispered.  
When Amy went to draw away from the hug, Jacob didn't release Amy from his grip. "Jacob, you can let go now." She said.  
"Oh sorry." He said, blushing. "See you soon." Then he left.

"Right then. This is it." Amy said. The party gathered and created a V formation, like a flock of birds. Amy gently unlocked the door and stepped out. The sunlight blinded the party. Luke lead the way. "Right guys you know the drill. Eyes and ears open. No room for error." He said.

As the group neared the main road, they saw the burned out buildings, and they kicked up the dust as they walked along. It hadn't rained in a long time, and it was beginning to worry Anna. The kids up at the school relied on the rain for drinking water, and the supplies were quickly getting depleted.

"Hey, look, up ahead." Jess said. At the top of the road, three incredibly sick Creepers stood blocking the advance. Jess glanced at Robson and grinned again. "You know, maybe it would be best to avoid confrontation where possible." Anna suggested. She hated fighting Creepers, because she would go into some sort of frenzy and be a danger to people on her own side.

"Fat chance. Mama wants some exercise!" Jess replied. Then she ran at the Creepers, and speared one almost immediately just below its ribs causing its insides to spill out in a purple and yellow mess of guts and pus. The other two grown ups, one an old Mother perhaps into her sixties and the other a middle-aged father, attempted to get away. The father's lips had disintegrated, his head swollen and his hand severed and Jess stabbed him in the back. It didn't die straight away, it fell to the ground and twitched around like it was having a seizure.

The third one was slow, but that just made it easy for Jess to finish it off. She swore at it as she stabbed it probably about ten times in the neck as if to check it was dead. Everyone stared at her in disbelief of how angry she had become. Anna thought that Jess must have had some crazy attacks on her friends before, and every fight reminded her of dead friends. But she was skilled, and those skills were useful, especially when they are on your side. And no-one was more loyal than Jess.

When Jess returned, the smirk had been wiped off her face. "Right, no more distractions." She said. "Straight to the Co-op, and Straight back again when we've got what we wanted." Amy nodded and continued to make her way down the road.

Amy organised everyone behind a large shrub opposite the Co-op. From there they could stay hidden from Creepers and keep an eye on their target. The door to the shop had large rusty metal shutters over it, and a big sign saying 'Fog bandit.' "How do we get the shutters up?" Luke asked quietly.  
"They're rusted pretty bad. They should be easy to break." Olivia said. She had planned this down to the most tiny of details.

Six diverse pairs of eyes watched the surrounding area. Anna's eyes hovered to the child that observed them, when his eyes met hers she waved him over. "You stay here, you get that?" Her hand rested upon Sam's shoulder.  
"Take care."  
He nodded. Her body turned in a way that would describe she was leaving. "Anna." Her head turned towards his direction of speech. "Take care of Amy please." A smile and a nod was received.

Leaving Sam behind in the shrub, Anna and the others took off, running across the road and to the entrance to the co-op whilst he watched. It didn't take long to destroy the shutter, a few hits from Robson's axe did the job. He also smashed the glass in the automatic doors and climbed inside, wrenching them open from there.

As soon as the kids were inside, they were met by the overwhelming stench of rotting fruit and veg.  
"Gross." Luke said, nipping his nose with his hand.  
"Right" Amy began, "Ignore the first isle, because that's full of rotting stuff. Apart from that everyone take an isle each and fill up as many trolleys as you can."

The party split up, with each isle filling up about six trolleys with stuff left over. Amy tied them together so that they could be pulled home. Everyone was enjoying grabbing food from the shelves, despite knowing that they couldn't eat any yet. It gave them hope. They could make it after all.

From the shrub, Sam had watched the Creepers gather outside the shop. How could Amy not have noticed them? First there were only a couple, but now there were twenty or so. They couldn't beat that many could they? Sam had been driven into an impossible situation: either yell and warn Amy, thus alerting them to his presence and getting himself killed, or wait for them to figure it out and possibly have his sister die. What to do?

Sam sat still, paralysed by fear. It was Anna who eventually walked into the door way and saw the Creepers. "Shit!" She spat, fumbling at her belt for her sword.  
"Anna what's….Jesus Christ!" Luke said, poising his hockey stick for action. The others soon joined them and assembled ready for battle.  
"We have to run straight through." Olivia said "They won't come in here because of the glass, but we've got to get through them."

"We can't abandon the food!" Jess said, jumping into the grown-ups crowd before anyone could stop her.  
The others had no choice but to follow Jess. Luke aimed for the temples, and knocked a few to the ground straight away. Anna and Amy kept back to back. "Sam…" Amy whispered as she fought.  
"Is smart enough not to get killed." Anna continued.

Olivia was slashing at the Creepers with her knife, when two of them, A mother with her hair in pigtails who barely looked diseased at all and a very diseased older teenager, grabbed her arms and pinned her against the wall. She screamed and kicked about with her legs, eventually finding the male's groin and slamming her foot into it. The creature let out no cry of pain, and Olivia could not feel any disintegrating mush around her foot. This could mean only one thing. "OH MY GOD IT'S BALLS SHRIVELLED UP!" Olivia yelled.

No-one came to her rescue. They were all too preoccupied with Creepers of their own. The mother bit Olivia's forearm, causing her to squeal and drop the knife. The mother then picked up the knife and hobbled away. The green faced male gave Olivia a toothless smile, it had foul breath and had lost teeth from the disease, then it planted a kiss on her mouth. "EWWWWW!" She screamed, "You dirty little pervert!"

Then Olivia took her free hand and jammed her fingers into the creature's eye. It felt crusty on the outside, probably an effect of the illness, like jelly in the middle and somewhat creamy at the back. As soon as Olivia had grip on the jelly she yanked out the eye-ball, leaving an emptiness behind. A stretched nerve hung from the blood soaked socket. Blood spurted out of the opening, landing upon the shirt of the Creeper.

The angry male roared, and raised its hand as though to deliver a death-blow, but before it had the chance to kill Olivia, its head was sliced off. It rolled around at Olivia's feet. Robson had just enough time to reach her before anything to bad happened. His axe was now dripping with the blood of about seven creepers. "Where's your knife?" Robson asked.

Before she could answer, a scream filled the air, and everyone, even the Creepers, went quiet to acknowledge the girl fall to the ground. Embedded in Amy's abdomen, was Olivia's knife. The mother who had taken it had worked out what it was for. She was smarter than any Creeper anyone had ever seen before. Letting out a tremendous smile, the Mother who had thrown the knife lunged for Amy and yanked out the knife before she and a couple of other Creepers attempted to run away.

Anna stared at Amy, her hoodie blood soaked, her chest rapidly rising and falling as her breathing got shallower. It filled Anna with a familiar sense of rage, one that she had hidden for so long. She detached herself from what she was doing, stood back and watched her body mow down the remaining monsters. Olivia was right. They deserved to be slaughtered.

Eight maybe nine, died at Anna's hand. There weren't any left now. She took a minute to catch her breath, staring in the direction that the mother who had thrown the knife had run. In her mind she argued chasing them down, making them pay. Reading her mind Robson said "Luke, Jess, avenge her." Jess nodded and ran to them with Luke.

Anna sat down besides Amy, pushing her head into her lap. Tears streamed down her face, she dearly hoped that the girl in immense pain did not mind nor notice the salty water droplets that landed gently onto her pale face.

"Amy… No… Please…" The words barely left as a whisper in-between the sobs that altered her speech, her pleading comment screaming that she could not handle much more death, but her swelling throat did not allow it to leave at a louder volume.  
"Anna… Take… Ch-cha-charge… Say I-I told you t… To." Her utterance leaves with less emotion as the seconds tick away. Brown orbs are on show as Anna's eyes widen with the truth that could only mean… She thinks she will die. "Take…C-care of S-Sam…"  
"NO! DON'T YOU DARE DIE ON ME!" She pleaded, her tone then switched to a more caring one, the tears woven into the threads of her comment. "Who will lead everyone if not you?" Anna cradles her best friend's head that lay's in her lap. The sporty female gives a knowing look. The bookworm instantly shakes her head. "No… Please… Amy we're… Best friends… Please…" She mentally screamed at the image of her friend, of whom she held so dear to her memory, and will forever so it seems. The leaders eyes locked with the girl she trusted, her eyes had glazed over… No…

"Amy?" A shock shoots through the girl. For the boy who spoke was not one she was hoping for at such a time. The boy who should not have heard or seen anything when it was all falling apart before her.  
"…Sam… We couldn't have done anything… I am so… sorry." His trembling body slid to kneel next to their new unofficial leader. His expression formed no emotion as he buried his face into the shoulder of the one sitting by his side. Her bloodied hand slid to rest on his back in solace, her head resting upon his.

Everyone had become close one way or another. Those obsessed with hygiene and appearances often died off first. Youngest and weakest soon found themselves at the hands of the creepers.  
Creepers were the only thing feared now, the only thing that brought tears upon all.

Anna completely fell apart then. Perhaps it was Amy's brother causing it, but she screamed her head off and refused to let go of her body. Robson had to lift her away, his own eyes filled with tears, which was hard due to Anna's struggling. He sat her beside Olivia, who comforted her the way she comforted Sophia after she had a nightmare. Sam was easy to pry away, because he was void of all emotion and all he could feel was numb. As if his whole world had caved in. Robson tried to ignore the moans of pain from his companions, as he fetched a bottle of wine from the shop and tipped it all over the body. Anna let out an ear-splitting screech when she watched him set Amy alight, but it was necessary if he didn't want her to be eaten by the Creepers.

Robson must have been the only one who wasn't shaking. Even he wondered why. Yes he had been in his fair share of fights, but one of his childhood friends had just died and it was like he didn't care. He gathered the rows of trolleys, each one piled high with foods, and he left them in the road, ready to be dragged home. This stuff should last for weeks.

"Hold out your arm." Robson suddenly said to Olivia.  
"Oh. It's okay really. Just a little bite." She replied.  
"HOLD OUT YOUR ARM!" Robson repeated. Startled by the sudden outburst, Olivia did as she was told. A small gash had opened in her arm, and it was bleeding still. Robson always worried about bites because they had a track record of getting infected and killing the victim.  
"Well we'll have to treat that as soon as we get back. If not…"  
"I die. Yeah I get it Robbie." Olivia said, her usual snapping creeping back into her voice.

At that moment, a panting Jess and Luke returned. "Did you get them?" Anna asked, as if that would make up for the loss of Amy. Luke nodded whilst Jess shook her head. The look of confusion that Anna gave off caused Jess to stamp on Luke's foot. "We got the slower two. The….murderer got away." Anna pounded the concrete of the car park with her fists.  
"Careful Anna, you'll break your hands."

Anna didn't even care anymore. Her whole world was being ripped apart, one piece at a time. She didn't care about herself anymore, and only one thought went through her mind as she dragged the trolleys home with the others. How was she going to tell Jacob?


	3. Chapter 3

_The girls limped on, their clothes now soaked by the heavy water droplets that had poured on them, until they reached the high school. Amy opened the office doors and let them in. A small crowd had gathered to witness the homecoming, expecting three boys and four girls. Not just two girls. __"__Where__'__s Ruby? Where__'__s Tyron? Where__'__s Vicky?__"__ The voices rang out across the foyer. Anna hated bringing bad news. She promised herself that she would never have to do that again. She would never have to make people cry. But she couldn__'__t tell the future__…__._

Anna was sat in the chair next to the office, being treated by Natalie and her team of doctors. So far, they were the only ones who knew of Amy's death, but Anna knew that gossip spread like wildfire in the school. She had to tell Jacob before someone else did. Luckily for Anna, her injuries were not severe. Only a bloody lip and a broken finger. She sipped on a beer as she sat there, they had brought it back that day and Natalie said it would stop Anna from shaking. This was going to be hard.

"Bite down on this." Natalie said, stuffing a wad of bandages into Olivia's mouth. Then she dabbed her arm wound with surgical spirit, causing Olivia to give a scream, only it was muffled by the bandages. "Spit." Natalie commanded. Olivia spat out the contents of her mouth and said, "Are you trying to burn my arm off?"  
"No. I'm trying to burn the germs away. Pippy, could you fetch me the needle and medical thread."

Natalie carefully inspected the wound with her fingers. "Right Livvy, you're going to need stitches. These are going to tingle slightly, but it won't be too bad." Natalie plunged the needle gently into Olivia's skin. Olivia was called by many names, Livvy being the one that people called her in the old days. Not many people called her that now though. "Your going to be fine." Natalie said, probably more for the other people in the room's benefit more than Olivia's. Your not going to turn into one of them if that's what your worried about. Worst that will happen is you'll get an ugly scar."

Anna finished her drink and got up, not wanting to put off her session with Jacob any longer.  
"Where are you going Anna?" asked Jess.  
"To talk to Mr. Bullock." Anna replied, using Jacob's last name to show how formal this was going to be.  
"I'll come too." Olivia said, jumping from her seat, clearly eager to help her friend.  
"No offence Olivia but you're not exactly the most sensitive of people. You remember what happened last time….."

"_Where__'__s Ruby? Where__'__s Tyron? Where__'__s Vicky?__"__ The questions which filled the air made Olivia__'__s chest tighten. It was getting claustrophobic and she couldn__'__t cope.  
_"_They__'__re dead alright! They__'__re all dead!__"__ she yelled, then stomped off leaving a crowd of crying kids for Anna to deal with._

"Good point." Olivia said, the memories making her spine tingle. "Maybe I'll just go see Sophia instead. She usually cheers me up."  
"I'll go help you Anna." Sam suddenly interrupted. He needed to keep himself occupied.  
"Thanks Sam." Anna said.

Whilst Anna, Olivia and Sam went outside, Becky and Lucy picked through the new supplies. "Wow. Oh my. Yes!" Becky said.  
"You're doing it again Becky." said Lucy.  
"I'm sorry. It's just, I have never had this much to work with. I could make a cake! We've got so much Jam….Oh look powdered milk. Corned beef…Stacks of chewing gum…."  
Lucy rolled her eyes at her friend, but she understood what Becky was feeling. Batteries. Lucy loved them now more than anything .

"I heard that Amy didn't make it back you know." Becky suddenly burst out. Lucy dropped the toothpaste she was holding. "No. That can't be right…." Lucy whispered. Amy had taken charge, built the defences, built the hopes and dreams.

If Amy had fallen, what was to stop the rest from crumbling too?

Anna and Sam found Jacob, his eyebrows cast downward as though he was deep in thought.  
"Jacob…" The Norfolk 'farmer' looked up from tending to his beloved crops, confusion as to why he had been disturbed. "It's Amy." And if that didn't catch his attention, nothing would. He noticed their behaviour then.  
"Please don't tell me she's dead because I couldn't handle that." His retort came out after looking at the girls puffy and blood-shot eyes.  
Silence took over the surrounding atmosphere. "She said Anna was to be in charge before she… Died." Sam gritted his teeth. His elder sister had died that day. Jacob stared into the ground as if it would bring her back.  
"But I'm second in charge. I should be the one to be leader." The hiss causing a flinch to occur for the other two attendants of his breakdown.  
"That is why you should not be. You still like Amy. If you take charge, then you will make the wrong decision when it comes to the harsh choice. Please, let your heart get used to the fact she's gone." Jacob eyed the girl who had finally spoken up, her shy attitude shining through the awkwardness that had gathered in their situation.

Jacob looked down, so Anna knows her words found purpose. "You are leader Anna Williams."

Jacob sighed. He knew very well that everyone had lost someone dear to them, but Amy didn't deserve to die. A single tear flowed down his cheek, but Jacob was determined not to let his emotions show, to bottle them up inside. He wasn't in a position where he could just fall apart.

He stared around the field at the children who now resided in Anna's control. Most were helping with the harvest, but the youngest ones were not. Anna and Sam were now sat in the long, wavy grass making daisy chains and small talk as they mourned to themselves. Jacob's eyes flickered to Olivia, the girl who had suggested the raid that killed Amy, and found that she was playing duck duck goose with Charlotte, Sophia and his brother Ruben. Robson had joined in too, and they all had a huge smile on their faces, ear to ear. A sudden rage engulfed Jacob. How dare she smile when Olivia was responsible for Amy's death?

It seemed as though his feet were moving without his mind knowing. Suddenly he was speeding up, breaking into a run and pushing her to the ground. 'Jacob! What are you doing?' His mind screamed, but it was too late. "Well done! Are you happy now? You've killed Amy like you killed your family! Now we all have to suffer because of your failure!" Jacob yelled.

Olivia sat awkwardly underneath Jacob, terrified of the anger she saw in his eyes. He was right. She was responsible and it was wrong of her to be having fun knowing what she did. Her eyes filled with tears, but Olivia refused to look weak in front of the youngsters, especially not Sophia, her last family member.

"Shove off Jacob. Olivia did what she could." Robson said. He towered above Jacob and stood behind Olivia, casting a huge shadow over her.  
"Well it wasn't enough, was it?" Jacob was starting to get hysterical.  
"Look.." Robson began taking a threatening step towards Jacob.  
"No." Olivia interrupted. "He's right."

Then Olivia picked herself up and ran as fast as she could towards the school building, her pony tail bouncing behind her. Robson shook his head in disbelief of what Jacob had done. They were best friends once, but as soon as the kids became independent their friendships broke down and deteriorated. They had been so close at one stage, Robson was having a hard time imagining Jacob making a strong girl like Olivia cry, and never in front of little Ruben.

"Congratulations." Robson said sarcastically. "You've successfully freaked out in front of a bunch of four year olds." Then he walked away. He had to calm down Olivia, it unhinged the younger children to see others in a state. Jacob probably needed more comforting at the time, but Robson knew that Jacob was more popular than Olivia. People would be lining up to console him.

Olivia ran straight into her old French classroom. Her shaking fingers drew swirls in the thick dust that had gathered on the teacher's desk, almost forgetting why she had come there. Not just the tables were layered in a dust blanket though, so were the chairs and walls. A tatty French flag hung from one of the walls. It was floppy and lifeless, with no wind to make it dance. The colours were distorted; the blue and red faded, the white now a shade of grey. The flag was also moth bitten, with multiple holes in it giving it a haunting look. It made Olivia wonder what had become of the people of France. Had they simply died or had they created settlements similar to the school? She hoped it was the latter.

Olivia ignored the date of her last day at school, September 11, which was about a week before things got serious. It was scribed in Mr. Simkins' scruffy handwriting, and it served as a constant reminder of things long past. It was about September 4th today, which meant that Olivia's birthday was the next day. She would be 15, she was the oldest survivor in the camp. It saddened her deeply. It was cruel that she was the oldest, when people who were 15 at the time of the disaster had their lives cut short. It was also cruel that Olivia was celebrating her birthday when people around the world were dying of what was called 'Vert flu.' As England was an island, it had been one of the last places to get infected, but foreigners saw England as a safe haven and travelled there. It was unknown where the disease started, but a video of a small boy speaking in English, crying because a Mother was going to eat him, went viral before the internet went down. That video scared Olivia, even from the start. It was her belief that the British government had rounded up the sick people and deported them, but that was just conspiracy theories. Anything could have caused the epidemic.

As she sobbed, Olivia traced the rough, grey string that lies around her neck. She once was a chubby girl with a double chin, but that had all gone now. She had prayed for it to happen and it had, but at a price. Now she was a skinny wreck of a kid, struggling to feed herself and her people. She knew now not to hate who you are, it only makes you forget what you have.

At the end of the string, a sparkling silver key had been tied. Most people probably thought that it was just for decoration, just another piece of jewellery or a good luck charm. But they were wrong, it was so much more than that. Olivia pushed the key into the door of the store cupboard and opened it. It let out a long, painful creek as it opened, like something out of a horror movie.

Olivia walked inside the cupboard, shutting the door behind her. No-body knew, but she often came here to cry, reflect and remember. It was her sanctuary. The cupboard was large, with enough room for two people to lay inside next to each other. It contained many shelves, which had been used to house exercise books and school equipment back in the day. Now it only held a few items from Olivia's home, like blankets, pillows, clothes, photos and a small stash of tinned food. That was a secret. If the others new about her supplies they would confiscate them, and this was Olivia's back up plan. If anything went wrong, she could lock herself and Sophia away until it was safe again. The door was thick, and no Creeper would ever break through it.

Sophia was technically Olivia's second cousin, who was brought up in Harrogate, Yorkshire. As soon as her Father died, her Mother knew that she would have the same fate, and entrusted Sophia into Olivia's care. Of course, Olivia had already promised to look after her brother and sister, but that didn't end well. Each death made her more protective over Sophia, who was already starting to look like her mother, with brown eyes and dark hair.

She flicked on a wind up lantern, one of the few items that Sophia had inherited, and the warm glow that it radiated calmed Olivia slightly. It reminded her of the winter days spent by the stove in her living room. The peace that she felt was short-lived. She picked up a picture of her family and burst into tears, feeling like she had failed them. The picture had been taken before Sophia's birth, when Olivia's huge extended family went to France for a week. Her brother had only been a baby then. 10 years ago. And only one of the twenty people in the photo were still alive. Her.

The memories triggered Olivia's tears once more, and she curled up and tried desperately to retreat into the purple blankets around her. They smelt of the wood from home. Olivia could remember when her brother was taken by Creepers, in the early days of the disaster. Her sister had died on a hunting trip when she was mobbed by them and they ripped off her limbs, one by one.

A knock on the door brought Olivia back to her senses. She didn't know who was out there. It could be Sophia, or Anna, or Kirsty, or anyone that she didn't want to see her cry. The door slipped open. "Don't you think I've known you long enough to know where you come when you're low?" Robson's voice shone through the darkness that had engulfed Olivia's mood.

"Go away." Olivia said, trying not to sound too wimpy.  
"Don't be upset, Jacob was just being stupid." Robson continued, sitting beside Olivia on the blanket. "You know how he felt about Amy."

Not wanting to talk, Olivia turned her body so she lay face down on the pillow. She let out a low moan every time Robson tried to say anything, so he ended up awkwardly patting her back whilst she calmed herself. Looking around the cupboard, he saw the supplies, but decided not to tell anyone for Olivia's sake. The most intriguing thing inside had to be the pictures from Olivia's childhood, particularly one where she was in fancy dress.

"You were a crayon?" Robson asked quietly. This stirred something inside Olivia and she got up, and stared at the photo in question.  
"One of my happiest memories. All of my friends together. I miss them." Olivia sighed, wiping away her tears with her sleeve.  
"Why do you miss them? They're all still alive." Robson said.  
"They're not the same. No-one is. You know that Robbie."

Robson did know that. He seemed to be the only one ever up for a football match nowadays, and that meant he had nothing in common with his ex-team mates. Ross was at least still likeable, but Jacob was just too unpredictable now. It was freaking Robson out.

"I know that nothing is the same. You used to look at me and you saw everything that you hated in the world. Sporting ability, popularity, loved by teachers, when people like you never got credit for anything and were the smartest people around." Robson said.  
"Yeah, but most of that was jealousy."  
"Maybe. But when this disaster came, people like me thought that they could handle it. They did stupid and reckless things despite warnings from people like you. Got themselves killed. So we were left with a load of nerds, if you don't mind me saying. A lot of us thought we were doomed at that point. A nerd could never look after us. But it turned out that brains are valuable. They could learn from the mistakes of others, and stay safe based on that."

"Well strategy is one thing, fighting is another. We were never great at the athletic side of things." Olivia added.  
"I know that. You used to be quite chubby, and in the bottom group for P.E. , and you were proud of it. Deep down I know people admired you and your friends for that. But now, there is no T.V. or computer to distract you, so you lot figured 'let's go for a run everyday' and now you're our best fighters. I used to be afraid to talk to you, I thought that it would destroy me socially. But you nerds are actually the nicest and bravest people I have ever met."

Olivia sat there, thinking through what Robson had just said. Yes, she had done great things with her life in the conditions, but she couldn't be proud when so many had died for her. It felt wrong.

A ringing bell then summoned Olivia and Robson to the hall. It was copper and had been used by the local primary school to signal break time for generations. The kids used it to signal when they wanted to have a meeting involving the whole school. Olivia knew what this meant; Anna was going to announce Amy's death to all.


	4. Chapter 4

She sat there, devouring what was left of the child they had brought her. She was the queen so she ate first. Her boils had recently become much more prominent, the large red bases with pus filled yellow tops. They itched constantly. She could barely even go out in sunlight anymore, and the attack on the children had made her wary. She had walked with the others for four hours just to try and get easy prey. And she had. Killed the girl, the athletic one with the brown hair.

The prey probably thought that she was stupid. Stupid old woman, but not her, oh no. The fallen star inside her had promised to help her, promised to make her immortal. The girl with the frizzy hair had never expected for her knife to be used like that. She would have let her army feast on the body, but the tall boy, the muscular one, had set her body alight, and destroyed her hard work. That boy would pay. She had some advantages. He didn't know he was being watched and he doesn't know that the knife is still in her possession.

The nest was inside the North Cambridgeshire hospital. A hospital seemed like a good place for the sick. Plus it had a children's ward, which meant it was stocked with meat for a while. When they ran out, the Creepers, the fallen stars, had fought each other for scraps. It was up to her to give the place order. She only got to the top through force.

She could hear what the children called her. 'Pigtails' they said. She liked that name. It sounded like a mutilated pig. Pig was her favourite food, when she was a farmer they kept them. Now she kept children instead.

Up in the children's ward, four kids had been captured and were being held. They make noise, noise that disturbed pigtails' friends. One would scream all night. That one would be eaten next. Another would try and escape all the time, so she had to break it's legs. There were two others, boys. One was chubby and blonde and would make a nice meal, the other, dark haired and quiet, who had been in the hospital for only a couple of days.

Pigtails would eat them, and then move back down to get the boy who destroyed her meal. Get everyone he loved and force him to watch them die. Love. A word that Pigtails was proud to remember. She had enough food. She wiped the blood away from her face with a mouldy, green arm and she threw the bones into the darkness. He heard the desperate scrambling of the weaker members of her clan, and she smiled. They would stay loyal to her as long as she fed them, and they were to stupid to see that they were only eating scraps. Loyal. Another word that caused pigtails to smile. Tomorrow, her plan will go into action. Tomorrow, the boy in question will fall.


	5. Chapter 5

As soon as Jacob's head hit the pillow of his bed, he fell asleep. No one could have blamed him, the last few hours had been an emotional roller coaster. Anna had announced to the school that Amy had died, and she had a strange burst of confidence whilst she stood in front of the kids. Jacob wondered how she had managed to hold it together, but then that was why she had been put in charge in the first place, wasn't it?

As Jacob was second in command, he had his own bedroom next to his office. The room had once held the photocopiers and supplies of paper, and now held a wardrobe full of clothes and a single bed with Thomas the tank engine bed sheets. They had belonged to Jacob as a child and they had been passed down to his brothers and then eventually he had taken them to the school because they reminded him of a happier time.

Jacob had three younger brothers. Ethan was twelve and would be graduating to guard next week, according to Oliver. Oscar was nine, so still spent most of his time in training, and Ruben was four. The boys looked almost identical, although the age differences were obvious. Jacob didn't spend much time with his family any more - he had to much work to do, but that didn't meant he didn't want to keep them safe.

He was wrapped up inside his bed covers, dreaming sweetly, drooling on his pillow. Jacob dreamt that he was in a meadow, surrounded by thick grass that waved about in the strong winds. On some of the waist height plants, tiny white flowers had sprouted. The meadow appeared to be on the far side of a sea wall, as below the dunes of the beach loomed and in the distance the sparkling waters of the ocean could just be made out.

It was a relatively calm evening scene. The gulls circled overhead and would call out loudly now and then. The animals had certainly benefited from man-kinds destruction. Jacob wasn't sure what was going on. He could remember going to sleep. Therefore, something strange was happening. Instinct kicked in and Jacob found himself stranded in a field without a weapon. There was an old pub behind him, 'The ancient Mariners' it said. Jacob could remember eating there as a child. There didn't seem to be any Creepers around, or any other children for that matter. Except for the girl on the bench.

Jacob froze. She wasn't there a minute ago. He was sure of that. No human could move that fast. It was impossible. A few yards ahead of him, on the great mound of earth that had been put up to protect against flooding, an old rickety bench stood. On the bench, a girl with her shoulders relaxed, her hair clean and braided with tiny purple flowers, hummed to herself.

Flight or fight. Jacob had heard that phrase so many times, and now, his curiosity seemed to be getting the better of him. He edged closer to the girl, listening to her, waiting for the unexpected. She hummed Oranges and Lemons quietly to herself. Kirsty had been quite insistent that the said song should be the anthem of the school, because it mentioned St Clements so many times.  
"Jacob. I wondered when I'd be seeing you here." The girl said. Jacob shuffled his way around the bench, relaxing himself. If she knew his name, he could trust her, right?

The colour sucked out of Jacob's face when he got a good view of her. Amy. She wore a purple gown that Jacob had never seen before.  
"You're dead." Jacob blurted.  
"Yep. Dead as a doorknob as Oscar said once." Amy replied coolly.  
"It's not his fault he got it wrong. He gets his words messed sometimes." Jacob took a seat next to Amy overlooking the sand dunes.  
"You doubt your senses?" Amy asked as she watched Jacob shake his head.  
"This is one messed up dream. It seems so real."

"Ah. It is a dream, but I carry messages that are very much real." Amy's facial expression remained unchanged. Jacob began to laugh like a maniac, confused about why he would dream something so strange. "Why are you laughing?" Amy asked, genuinely confused.  
"Okay, I'm dreaming that we are at Hunstanton, when you died today, and you're bringing me some sort of message. Great news everyone I'm the new Joseph!"  
Amy shook her head. "Listen Jacob, there is a storm coming. The school isn't safe anymore and the devils are inside the walls. In my desk….Or Anna's desk…. Bottom draw, there are some plans. They will help."  
"So that's it?" Jacob asked "That's all that you wanted to tell me?" Jacob raised his voice in frustration and disappointment. He loved Amy. Thing was, he wasn't sure if this was her or not.  
"No. I want you to get Joel and Jay on a task. Get them to find out what makes the Creepers ill. First steps to finding a cure."

Amy then stood up, her dress fluttering around in the wind. A fog had engulfed the shoreline in the brief time that the pair were talking. Jacob couldn't help but feel that the sunset would be somewhat romantic if it wasn't for the grim circumstances. "Goodbye Jacob. You will see me again." Amy said, before striding her way across the dunes towards the sea.

He sat there for a moment, breathing heavily. If this was the last time he would see Amy before his own death he wanted to remember it. "Amy wait!" Jacob called, springing from the bench. He whipped his head around, desperately searching for Amy's figure among the mist. He thought he could make her out, and out of refusal to let her go, he ran out to sea. A cramp took hold of him and he could not seem to find the girl. "Amy…Amy no, Please" He cried as he fell to the floor.

The sharp taste of blood filled his mouth, and the sand slowed Jacob down, but he was determined to catch her. He forced himself up from the ground and kept running and shouting her name, but there was not even a trace of Amy left. Soon he had wet ankles, and suddenly he was submerged in the salty water.

"Ahhhh!" Jacob yelled as he forced himself upright. His covers were wrapped tightly around him in a cocoon. The relief that it was a dream flooded him. Jacob found that he was sweating rather badly, and he peeled off his bed sheets and got up. He had no-idea what the time was, for there was no clock in the room. Jacob thought that perhaps he would ask for one for Christmas, but then he remembered that there is no Christmas anymore.

In a tiny blue box on Jacob's bed-side table, lie his most prized possession. He reached for it as he always did in times of trouble, and revealed the large, silver locket. It had belonged to his mother, and was in the shape of a heart. Inside a picture of his entire family could be seen. Jacob wondered what his brothers thought of him now anyway. They might be proud of him for being so high up; or resent him for not talking to them in so long. Tomorrow, he told himself, Tomorrow he would find out.

"Jacob." The gentle voice entered his confined space of his room. Jacob had not expected this. He turned to be met with the new leader. "Anna." He stood, a bow being received for her current presence. Her brows furrowed into the confusion and irritation his actions had confirmed. "Jacob, I am leader not Queen." His darkly coloured eyes looked into hers, staring into her dark and slight Indian features, everyone knew of her quarter Indian heritage, but not one bothered to be rude about it because care of race. "But I came here for a reason. You are still hurting, yet you have not once cried." She carefully placed her feminine fingers upon his cheek. "You don't have to pretend to be brave. So cry." The shorter or the two stared into her dark orbs before he caved in on himself. His heart bleeding the contents of the mess that had became his life. She pulled him into a friendly embrace. His tears soaking into her shoulder.

Once Jacob was cried out, he pulled away from Anna. It had come to his attention that maybe she had seen a side of him only intended for those he loved like Amy or his mother. He couldn't have Anna thinking that he was a sissy. And then there was the locket, which no-one was ever meant to see. He placed it back into the blue box and slammed the lid shut.

"Why aren't you in bed?" He asked, his voice cold and lifeless.  
"I couldn't get used to it. I slept on the mats in the hall for so long I…I heard that you were awake."  
Anna nodded towards the wall, indicating that she heard Jacob's scream through them.  
"Oh. Well if you don't mind.." Jacob said, edging his way towards the door and pushing Anna out. The he gently closed it, leaving Anna rather confused.

No matter what she did for the Jacob, he never appreciated it. It left her feeling small and unwanted.  
"Night then." She whispered to the closed door before trailing her way to her own room next door.


	6. Chapter 6

Ross smiled as he passed the excited grins on the younger kids faces. Anna had agreed to the festival last night after he had begged for it. People got so little pleasure nowadays and there was nothing stopping them after all.

The field had been transformed. The grass was still long and wavy because it hadn't been cut in a year, but Ross' trees had been pruned and covered in paper chains that the little kids had made. The sky was a beautiful orange and pink and Robson had lit a huge bonfire in the centre of the field.

The music blared out across the school, whilst Joel and Jay chatted quietly with Jacob next to the speakers. Kirsty danced around with the younger children, who she had spent all day trying to teach them different dances.

Amidst the fun and laughter stood one nervous boy. Oliver felt tense, why was he doing this again? Ready to throw himself into embarrassment just to have one dance. If things went wrong here she would never look at him in the same way. His hands were sweating; girls love that.

Kirsty was overjoyed at the proceedings. Her kids were enjoying themselves, which was all that mattered to her. Anna had even relaxed security a little so Little Luke, Kirsty's brother, could enjoy himself too. Becky had managed to make a large spread of party food, mostly jelly, and Ross had suggested that some of his apples should be used for apple bobbing. That would keep the little ones entertained. Kirsty made a mental note to thank Ross. He had suggested this whole thing anyway.

The kids stopped dancing when the music changed to a slow song. They didn't understand the beauty in a love ballad, so they all queued up for food. That was when Kirsty spotted Ross. He was at the far side of the field, playing catch with some other boys. Kirsty waved at him and was about to jog to meet him when Oliver arrived.

"Hey Kirsty!" He said, jumping between her and Ross.  
"Oh, Hey Oliver!" Kirsty replied, trying to be enthusiastic but failing, as her annoyance at Oliver could not be covered. "You look nice."

Everyone had made an effort for the party. Kirsty herself had changed into a pink dress and Oliver for once wasn't wearing his camouflage. Oliver had started to babble. Nerves were getting to him, but Kirsty wasn't paying attention anyway. She was far to interested in Ross. She kept shifting her weight from one foot to another, and trying to peer over Oliver's shoulder.

"So, would you like to dance?" Oliver asked.  
Kirsty was taken by surprise. She had never thought of anything romantic happening between her and Olly ever. But then, it was just a dance. It didn't mean anything, did it?  
"Um…I…." Kirsty stumbled over her words. She didn't want to dance with him, she had decided, but how to tell him that without hurting his feelings?

"Listen Olly, I'm not really up for a dance at the moment. Maybe another time?" Kirsty's words hit Olly like a punch in the gut. Had she no idea of how he felt about her?  
"Okay." He said through clenched teeth. "See you around."  
Then Oliver stomped his way over to Robson and Olivia, because he knew they wouldn't reject his company.

With Oliver out of the way, Kirsty was free to see Ross. He ran towards him as fast as she could in her dress, threw her arms around him and squeezed him tightly.  
"Thank you so much for this Ross!" She squealed.  
"You're welcome. Just let go of me, you're hugging a bit too tight." Ross choked.  
"Oh sorry." Kirsty said, resting her hands gently on the back of his neck. Ross stared into her eyes and kept hold of her waist, and before they knew it they were slow dancing in front of a crowd of their friends.

Oliver stood their watching their elegant turns with his mouth wide open. He felt betrayed, there is no other word to describe how he felt. Robson picked up on the feeling, and handed Olly a beer to calm him down. Robson was bored. Between the apple bobbing and watching Ross dance with Kirsty, there wasn't much to do here. Olivia was stood beside him, wearing a dress that she clearly hated. When Robson had first seen it he had laughed because it was so clear that Olivia felt uncomfortable. The leather jacket was something she never seemed to take off now too.

"I think we need to lighten this party up a bit." Robson said to Olivia, giving her a sideways smirk so she knew he was plotting something.  
"For once, I completely agree." She said, returning his smile. This festival was about to get interesting.

Robson made a beeline for the speakers, and Olivia followed. He switched off the music, which caused the crowd to grumble and cry out in disappointment.  
"Listen up! I want the boys in one line and the girls in another." Olivia yelled.  
Obviously Olivia had no authority at the camp, so the children instinctively looked at Anna for conformation. Anna shrugged and stood at the front of one of the lines. She didn't know what they had planned. Then the music began to play.

"Clap your hands!" Robson shouted at the sound of Dolly Parton's '9 to 5'. It became clear to most that a dance was about to take place, so some boys left to play a game of football at the back of the field whilst the others stayed. Olivia briefly explained how to do it, which involved a boy from one end of the line going into the middle to dance with a random girl from the other line, and things went off to a flying start. Anna was first, dancing with little Luke and taking her place at the back of the line. Everyone seemed to be having a great time.

Until they heard the first scream…

Everyone who was dancing stood dead still, wondering what was going on. Joel jumped out of line and turned off the music whilst most people stared out in the direction that the had come from. The boys who had played football raced past Anna, still screaming, and she was able to grab one of them before they ran away.

"What's going on?" Anna asked calmly.  
"The - Creepers- got- through- the -barriers!" The boy panted.  
"Impossible," Anna whispered, releasing him . The school was surrounded by thick wooden fences that were deemed impossible to break through. Amy had ordered them to be built in the early days after the disaster. Anna flicked her eyes back over to the area of land the boy had come from, and saw that it was true. So did the other kids, and the school was thrown into confusion.

The screams echoed across the grounds as the residents of the school ran in all directions to get away from the creepers that were heading towards them. Oliver thought that their must be at least a hundred of them pouring into the school. Ross stood, holding a fork, ready to defend his crops at all costs, but Oliver did not think him brave, more idiotic. Ross hadn't been trained for this.  
"Get Kirsty and the kids away!" Oliver snarled at him.

Ross ignored Oliver. Kirsty was strong enough to take care of herself, and smart enough to stay away. He knew that in the current situation, his crops would be the only thing keeping kids here alive. If he let them be ripped apart by Creepers, then more blood would be on his hands.

Ross wasn't the only one ignoring orders. After being told by Anna to get inside, Becky continued trying to gather the food stuff inside. It could feed people for a few extra days, and Becky knew from experience that a small amount of supplies could make a big difference. Joel scooped up what she couldn't carry.  
"Come on Rebecca!" He yelled as he made his way to the sports hall.

Anna had already begun to slice the Creepers, and Olivia could hear the battle cries of her friends as she herded the little ones into the sports hall. She quickly rushed into the changing rooms along with some other girls, and changed out of her dress and back into her jeans so she could fight more efficiently. When it came down to weapons, Olivia had hand guns and a knife, but as her knife had been stolen and the guns were more for show than anything, she used a rounders bat to do the fight.

Anna sliced open a Creeper's neck, and watched it slump down on it's knees. Then, showing no mercy, she kicked it's fragile head, and it caved in. Jess violently swore at any Creeper that got to close, hacking them to pieces and moving on to the next grown-up that seemed to take the place of the one that had been killed. Anna wished she would be more careful, as the mass of Creepers must have absorbed a few kids, and there was a thin chance they were still alive.

Robson, wearing his best outfit, swung his axe and took down three Creepers in one blow. He was dripping in sweat because he had no break. He was sure that they were slowly pushing the zombies back, but they were putting up a good fight. Next thing he knew Olivia was by his side, hacking into the wave of decomposing Creepers that seemed never ending.

"It's about bloody time!" Robson exclaimed, chopping an arm off a Creeper and spraying Big Luke with blood.  
"Why would I ever want to miss this?" Olivia replied, hitting a grown-up in the temple and knocking it down. Olivia meticulously scanned the bobbing mass of green for any sign of a lost child, and she went green herself at what she saw. A little dark braid running down the back of a kid's back. The braid that belonged to Sophia.

Sophia was also seen by Kirsty, who had stayed at the front line only to rescue children. The Creepers were clawing at her tiny body, and Sophia was desperately flaying her arms around, trying to defend herself. She was only four, and she couldn't defeat a hundred Creepers. To Kirsty's horror, Sophia then disappeared from her view. And there was only one way of saving her now. To wade into the shoal of grown ups.

Before anyone could stop her, Kirsty past Ross, who was poking Creepers with his fork, and into the crowd. The smell was overpowering, and she had no idea what direction Sophia had gone. The ground beneath her feet was squishy, so she could only assume that she was walking on dead grown ups. Suddenly Kirsty felt something grip her ankle, and she tripped and fell into a pool of putrid mess. She whipped her head around only to see a fat Creeper, completely naked, so covered in boils that it was impossible to tell what sex it was, had hold of her. Kirsty whined and punched it in the face, sending a squirt of pus everywhere.

The Creeper moaned and released Kirsty from it's grip, but the crowd of grown ups had now closed in so tight that she couldn't stand up again. She tried to crawl, but it wasn't easy considering the goop on the ground and the fact that the legs of the grown ups where tightly packed, like tree trunks in the rainforest.

When Kirsty thought that she could see Sophia again, a tiny spark of hope glimmered inside her. "Sophia!" She yelled. But her excitement was short lived, because she soon felt two enormous, strong hands in her armpits, pulling her to her feet. The Creeper in question, a fat middle aged man then pushed her in front of a woman, who was in a tiny clearing in the centre. Why hadn't she come armed? The creeper in question wore uneven pigtails, and held a bloody knife in her hand. That Creeper couldn't use the knife though, could she?

The woman smiled at Kirsty, revealing what was left of a set of black and yellow teeth.  
Kirsty then realised that that this was the end. And this woman was asking her for any last words.

She racked her brain for something noble to end life on, but she got nothing. "Go to hell." She said quietly, spitting in the Mother's face. The mother looked unimpressed, and raised her blade towards the sky. Kirsty closed her eyes. She thought of Luke, the way a big sister should. He would grow up to be a good man. "Goodbye Luke," She whispered. A sharp pain on the back of her head then plunged her into darkness.

Back out on the front, the only things heard were the yells of pain from Olivia and Ross. Ross because Kirsty had gone on some sort of suicide mission, and Olivia because her last known relative was surrounded by cannibalistic Creepers.

Olivia found herself running towards Sophia, who she still had a fix on, backed up by Robson like always. It was hard for them to stay on their feet, but none of the Creepers seemed to be attacking them. Weird. They reached Sophia, who had started to hallucinate and was covered in bite marks, and she kept saying, "Spiders. Everywhere," quietly to herself.

Robson hoisted Sophia onto his shoulders and started chopping up grown ups from behind too, because that made them easy targets. Through the battling Creepers something caught his eye. A mother he recognised. She had pigtails. And Robson swore that she was holding the limp body of Kirsty.


	7. Chapter 7

Pushing the thought of Kirsty out of his mind, Robson barged his way through the crowd. Once safely back behind the front line, he set Sophia down on the grass. Olivia had tears streaming down her face, but as usual, was pretending that they didn't exist.  
"Robbie, we have to get her inside you idiot," she snapped.  
"I know dumb ass!" Robson yelled back.

People probably thought the relationship between Robson and Olivia a bit odd, because they shout abuse at each other when they are stressed but stick by each other no matter what. The only reason Robson was yelling now was because it was either that or pity her, and Olivia despised pity. Robson stuck by Olivia because after his youngest sister died, his next sister swore that she never wanted to see him again, and left. Olivia had nobody either, so she knew how he felt. In a way, Sophia and Olivia had become his family now anyway.

Robson checked over a now unconscious four year old, oblivious to the raging battle that was going on behind him. Then he lifted Sophia back up and jogged inside.

Anna knew that they couldn't keep up the momentum. Daylight was beginning to fade and the fighters were getting tired.

As Anna brutally killed more Creepers, she heard yelling from behind. What now? She turned to see Joel by the bonfire, jumping up and down. It was a strain on Anna's ears to hear what he was shouting. "Fire! The Creepers hate Fire!" Anna immediately dropped arms and set her cricket bat alight. She felt like a mother goose when everyone copied her.

Like Romans along Hadrian's wall, torches went up along the length of the field. As Joel had predicted, the Creepers backed away from the light as though it burnt them to be anywhere near it. Joel watched as the zombies slowly were pushed back and chased away from the school by Anna's fighters.

People should listen to Joel more often. He had spent the entire day researching Creepers with Jay (Following Jacob's request,) a floppy-haired ginger boy who was obsessed with zombies before the disaster, and knew quite a lot about them. Joel was a typical nerd, and his fighting wasn't up to much either, but he still deserved respect.

Olivia sat besides Sophia's unconscious little body whilst Natalie treated her. Most of the kids that had been shut inside the dark sports hall were huddled together, saying nothing as they waited for friends and family to return. Natalie was working tirelessly, her younger brother Adam helping out where he could. She assured Olivia that Sophia would make it, and Olivia had every reason to trust her.

Kirsty's brother, Little Luke, had taken over her role looking after the younger kids. He had a terrible feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong. He knew that the children inside were relying on him to be the brave one.

"Luke," Robson beckoned.  
"What's up?" he replied nervously. As Luke was twelve, he knew that he would start puberty soon, but when stood next to Robson, who had clearly aged before his time and looked like a fully grown man, Luke couldn't help but feel like a baby.  
"Things were getting bad out there. We need to send someone to speak to Anna," Robson declared.

The scars covering Robson seemed to be a marvel to Luke, who couldn't stop staring at them. Considering his own body looked untouched, Luke thought himself to be a coward in comparison. Robson had spent the last, what, half an hour? Polishing his axe. When he had carried in a tiny girl, her body covered in bite marks and his axe dripping with crimson blood, some of the kids had screamed. He did look kind of scary, but he was a nice guy.

Then there was Olivia, the giant of a girl that hung around with Robson all the time. She was friends with Kirsty. Luke considered her to be wild and unpredictable, with a glint of insanity in her eyes. Yet she was good with the youngest children, he had noticed that. And she hadn't left the kid's side since she had come in there.

"I'll go out there," Lucy interrupted, breaking Luke's trail of thought. "I'll find out what's going on." Luke noticed that he hadn't even acknowledged Lucy's presence in the large hall. She was one of those creepy people who could just blend into the shadows.  
"Are you sure?" Robson asked, nervous about Lucy's ability to handle combat. She was never trained like the others and in the old days she sucked at sports.

Lucy knew that people valued her as a selfish cry-baby, but none of them had seen her. She could move around a street utterly unnoticed by Creepers or other kids, and she intended on using this to her advantage. Plus, she had her favourite weapon, an old metal relay baton with a sharpened end, that she could drive into anything or anyone who got in her way.

"Positive," Lucy replied, heading to the fire escape. "I'll be back before you can say 'Zombie attack'."  
Lucy hurried across the playground towards the field, realising that the sun had gone down and the only source of light left was the bonfire. A silhouetted figure stood to one side of it, and Lucy rushed to see who it was.

As soon as she saw the shaven head, Lucy knew who it was.  
"Joel," She began, "The others want to know what's going on." Lucy cast her eyes over to the large pools of human fluids on the field and the bodies littering the football pitch. In the distance, she could see some twinkling lights, resembling stars.  
"You know, those lights are actually our fighters," Joel said, staring at the flames that danced in the bonfire. "Creepers are scared of fire, that's how we pushed them away. With torches.  
"That's brilliant," Lucy whispered.

"They should be on their way back now," Joel spoke softly, as if he was distracted by something.  
"Then what? We make it safe again?" Lucy asked.  
"Perhaps, but it will take more than a barrier to stop more attacks of this nature."  
"Then we strengthen them."  
"That requires workers."  
"We have loads of kids inside,"  
"Who are young, weak and defenceless. Plus you have to take into account the casualties of this battle." Joel added, thinking very logically.  
"People died?" Lucy asked, shocked.  
"Of course they did. People always die in battles with Creepers."

Lucy was suddenly very panicked. She had been so intent on keeping herself alive that she had forgotten about the others. When she was inside the hall kids kept asking her 'Why aren't you fighting with the other fourteen year olds?' She found herself wading through bodies, looking for a wounded kid she could save, so she at least could say she had helped.

"That's useless. If there are any wounded or dead kids they would have been dragged off by the creepers when they retreated," Joel said, reading her mind. "Someone's bound to be gone. And some crazy person will probably go looking for them, dead or alive."  
"So what do you want me to do about it?" Lucy spat, frustration building up.  
"Get some supplies ready. Mark my words."


	8. Chapter 8

Anna lay asleep at the desk in her office, surrounded by papers. She was meant to be devising a new defence plan, but she had so little time to rest lately that it was an impossible job. After chasing the remaining 70 or so Creepers down the marsh, Anna's fighters had returned and mended the barriers. By this time they were exhausted, and had to go to be registered in the sports hall with rumbling tummies and pounding headaches so that the kids at the school could see who they had lost.

Anna woke suddenly, having another nightmare. Over the past nights she kept having the same dream. Amy's death. It was as though her mind was torturing her again and again, replaying the events of the raid and desperately looking for ways that Amy's fate could have been avoided. Not that there was anything to change that now.

A sheet of writing had stuck to Anna's cheek whilst she had laid there, which must have only been a few hours. Nevertheless, Anna felt refreshed, although she decided to leave the plans until the morning, so she would have more energy to think.

The click of the door opening brought Anna back to reality. Ethan was stood in the doorway, proudly holding his javelin. At twelve, Ethan had only been promoted the day before. He mirrored Jacob's appearance almost exactly with his neatly combed dark hair and brown eyes. Ethan had been given the job of guarding Anna whilst she was in her office. It was something that Jacob had assured her was a good idea, just in case someone turns on her. Anna knew that the decision was mostly based on Jacob's yearning to keep his brothers alive, but she would admit that people under her protection didn't fully trust or like her, so the threat of being betrayed was very real.

For a moment, Anna just stared at Ethan. His facial expressions tended to be angrier than Jacob's, and he was nearly always in a terrible mood. Anna was almost certain that Ethan despised his brother for ignoring them over the past year, and for giving him a boring job like guarding when he could be mutilating Creepers. A crack of thunder from outside broke Anna's face into a smile. Thunder meant rain, rain meant drinking water and drinking water meant life.

"Anna, there's a bit of an emergency going on in the reception," Ethan whispered. Anna's office used to belong to the head teacher at St Clements high. It was very near to Jacob's quarters and the hospital, which naturally meant that reception was only a couple of thin walls away. Anna closed her eyes and let our a sigh when she heard the shouts coming from nearby. She was tired. Now she understood why Amy always looked so run down.  
"Lead the way Ethan," She replied.

Upon entering the reception, Anna realised exactly how many people were having problems. Loads of people were gathered in the small room, struggling to make their point heard over the shouts of the others.

Rebecca spotted Anna before anyone else, and quickly made her way over to her side. She had been sat inside there for a while, listening to other people's conversations. It wasn't something she would normally do, but most of the people were practically screaming at each other, and Becky couldn't help but overhear.

"Anna, more than half of people in here are complaining that they're hungry after your little expedition earlier," Rebecca said. Anna was quite hurt by the accusation in Rebecca's voice. Had one of Anna's dearest and oldest friends renounced her as leader as well?  
"Do you think you could whip a little something up?" Anna asked.  
"Yes, we have plenty of leftovers in the dining hall," Rebecca said with a smile, which not only reassured Anna, but confused her too.

"Right! Anyone who is here to tell me that they are hungry, Get out now!" Anna bellowed, "Food is in the dining hall!" Exactly as Rebecca had predicted, most of the people in the hallway backed out, leaving only a few people Anna's age behind in an eerie silence.

"That's better. What's the problem?" Anna continued.  
Pippy was the first to speak up, holding a large piece of paper which Anna had given her in order to count the remaining residents of the school. "We have four in intensive care, and five missing," Pippy summarised.  
"And who is missing?" Anna asked, again feeling as though this would be a major let down to her people.  
"Ryan Jackson, Freddy Roberts, Angela Parkinson, Samantha Pask and Kirsty Calcutt."

At the mention of Kirsty's name, several jaws dropped open. Oliver was filled with rage, transforming him into some sort of wild animal. "You filthy beast!" he roared towards Ross. "One thing, I ask you to do one thing, and you go and get her killed!" Robson made a move to try and restrain Oliver, but not fast enough. Before he was able to grab him Oliver had hit Ross on the nose, causing it to bleed like crazy.

"Take it easy Olly," Robson began, using all of his strength to keep the wriggling red head's arms behind his back. Ross backed up against the grey stained wall. The carpet that lined the floor was blue, however it had become faded and stained with blood of the wounded. The office itself was separated from the space by thick panels of glass. The receptionists would sit behind the glass and you could not hear their conversations. It was a great place for Anna to hold private chats, but it was mostly untouched from the days that the school was in proper use.

Ross started talking to himself and everyone was shouting again. Anna was losing the will to live and in a way, this was annoying everybody. Sophia was now awake, and full of life. Olivia was carrying her around with her everywhere she went. She was refusing to let Sophia be harmed by anything. "Look out there!" Sophia suddenly said in her childish high voice, pointing to the road beyond the school car park.

Outside, the very Creepers that Anna had chased off a few hours before, paraded past the school, there shifting outlines blurred by rain. Only this time, they made no attempt to gain entry to the buildings. They just kept walking, as if they were intent on going somewhere.

The timing could not have been worse. Ross was freaking out, Oliver was using Ross as a way to channel out his anger, as a punch bag. But they waited, for any sign of Kirsty to appear from the darkness that she had left behind. Rumours of the disappearance were bound to of spread. Since the girl was one that was well known throughout the school that they had been attached to since this disaster had happened, she was one that was thought of as untouchable. But things soon changed as of Amy's death. The smallest of things altered control of the citizens that roamed the school, or their home. But no place is safe in a world where Creepers run amok. So it is simply a building in which they are housed. "Stop! Kirsty may be missing, but that does not mean we can not possibly find her." Anna's call causes silence through all the quibbling and everyone cast their eyes towards her.

Joel gave a slight smile to Lucy, who stared at him in awe. No one could have been that clever. No one could have predicted this situation. In a way, Lucy was glad she had prepared the backpacks of supplies that Joel had asked her to.

Oliver and Ross reacted almost immediately to Anna's suggestion, gathering their weapons and doing up their jackets. Robson soon joined in, desperate to help his former best friend, and Olivia naturally followed. "Wait!" Anna cried in desperation. "I didn't mean now!"  
"It's as good a time as any," Olivia said quietly, catching the backpack full of supplies that Lucy threw at her. "The guys obviously can't do it on their own."

Anna debated staying behind, but decided that knowing her friends were risking their lives for others would drive her insane. Sophia also played a major role in swaying Anna. She said, "Well, if you do find her, everyone will love you. Let's face it, Anna's not been off to a great start." Everyone stared at Sophia after that, scared of how smart she was for a four year old. Olivia then handed her to Lucy so she could be taken to bed.

"Wait," Jacob interrupted, waving his hand in the air. "You are going to risk everything, including the life of our own leader, to attempt to save a girl who is most likely dead already?"  
"We'll be alright," Olivia dismissed.  
"Now where have I heard that before?" Jacob spat at her.  
"Well, we're prepared this time. We're clever, we can figure it out."  
"I'm just saying, you haven't been thinking things through lately Olivia, have you?"

Olivia struggled to keep her anger hidden away. Jacob seemed to forget how dangerous that she could really be. "And with idiots like you in charge of keeping Anna safe, she's going to be dead in no time." Jacob added.

When Olivia pounced on Jacob, nobody intervened. They most likely agreed with her. She was able to pin Jacob up against the back wall of the reception, and she poked Jacob's jaw with one of her guns.  
"Now look here, you stuck up little prat. I don't take orders from deprecating midgets. If you say one more word insinuating that I am some Idiotic, selfish, bimbo, then I will send a bullet straight through your skull. They'll have trouble cleaning your brains off the ceiling."  
"I never said bimbo." Jacob choked. Olivia responded by pushing his neck harder against the wall.  
"And lets face it, you never fire those guns. You wouldn't waste a precious bullet on me."  
"Oh yeah?" Olivia taunted. "Well, I would love to see you stop me. Even your own brother wants you dead!"  
"Libby! That's enough!" Anna burst out, feeling that the comment about Ethan was slightly too far.

Olivia wasn't one to act unprovoked, but Jacob was no longer the boy she had known from her childhood. He infuriated her on a daily basis, and for a second, Olivia truly believed that she could of killed him. But she wasn't a bad person. She wasn't going to kill a boy she trusted. Lowering her weapon, Olivia backed away. Not even bothering to stare Jacob down.

Jacob coughed and spluttered, rubbing his neck which had come out in bright red bruises. No one would look him in the eye. What had happened to him? Why was he so bitter? He stared at Ethan, who had blushed and was shifting from one foot to another, looking at his feet. It was then that Jacob realised how neglecting he really had been. His brother did want him dead.

Jacob stared into the shadows since that was the only thing he could understand anymore. A flash of lightning briefly illuminated the dark room, which had only been lit by tea lights. It was followed by a tremendous crash of thunder, which made some members of the room jump, but it reminded Jacob of his dad. It sounded like his dad when he was angry. And his dad was surely angry at the way he had treated his brothers.

"Are we ready?" Robson asked. In recent days, he had grown rather inpatient. He jumped up and down, and did warm ups the way he had before a P.E lesson. He always wanted to be a P.E. teacher after all.  
"Yes," Olly jabbered. "We leave now and we'll find Kirsty in no time." Olly pulled up the hood of his cagoule and took a step towards the door, but Anna put another spanner in the works.  
"Are you sure we have enough people? I don't want a repeat of last time," She said loudly.  
"I think you're over thinking it Anna," Olivia said. "The quicker we go the quicker we can't change our minds again."  
"Maybe you're under thinking it."  
"Well if I thought through everything I did, I would lead a boring life," Olivia retorted. "Sometimes, I think that no fun comes from thinking."

So it was decided, and despite Jacob's objections, the group of six headed out into the freezing rain. Joel and Jacob were the only ones left in the darkness now, as Ethan had gone to see Ruben and Oscar. They awkwardly looked at each other.  
"Will they be alright Joel?" Jacob whimpered.  
"Sure they will. Don't underestimate the nerds."


	9. Chapter 9

Pigtails marched along the road in the pounding rain. Five children was an unsatisfactory amount of food considering they had lost so many. Two of them had already been eaten. She would eat two more when she arrived at the nest. The other one could be saved for later.

The kids were carried along by her favourite companions. A large middle aged man with a stained vest on and a small stumpy man with a pair of underpants on his head. He was confused. They all were. The two men were, however, trustworthy. They followed Pigtails without hesitation. She needed followers like that.

Of course, Pigtails knew that she had to have her army, yes army was a good word, back at the nest before dawn. The light hurt them. She had already forced them to walk for hours yesterday for some silly reason, and the sunlight really had taken it's toll. She couldn't even remember why she had travelled so far for so little food.

It didn't matter though, not to her. They had kids locked away for when they can't hunt them, and if things did get bad they could always eat the weaker members. But Creeper does not taste as good as kids do. It's tough in comparison.

As they passed a few more Creepers, they seemed to join the army. This pleased Pigtails. She needed new recruits if they were ever going to take back the land that they had once dominated. Wow, that word was a big one for Pigtails to remember. Yes, this land was theirs once, until the nasty kids ruined everything. She would show them. Her memory was foggy. It confused her. She ran her fingers along the edge of her blade. A boy. A boy she had to…dispose of. That's as far as her head would allow her to travel back.

The fat middle-aged man carried the girl in the pink dress along over his shoulder. She wasn't conscious, but she was fidgety none the less. He hoped Pigtails ate her soon. His name was Grease. He liked that name. He had forgotten why, or what it even meant now however.

His once white vest was now covered in stains. He smelt like rotting flesh, which was probably happening underneath his ill-fitting clothes. The boils were most prominent on his neck. He hoped they would go away before they got so big and pus filled that they exploded. He didn't know how he would keep his head up if that happened.

Stumpy dragged two young boys along the road by their ankles. He was tiny compared to others, but he was strong. Stumpy had only one ear, and his nose had disintegrated from illness. He had a lumpy, green bald head, of which skin was peeling off at an alarming rate. He also had a thin white beard that had managed to survive, although the top was bloody now and it had random twigs and leaves stuck inside it. One of the boys was irritating him, he kept wriggling and crying out. The other one, well he was as still as a mountain. Stumpy was sure that he was already dead.

The army moved along the long straight market road towards the town of Wisbech. That was where the hospital was. Stumpy had never seen the company move so fast. Pigtails must have been getting anxious. And when she got annoyed, trouble was sure to follow.


	10. Chapter 10

The thunder had stopped now, and daylight was beginning to shine through the thick clouds. It was still raining, and Anna had all but lost track of the Creepers as she marched through the impossibly long straight roads which ran through the marshy fields.

The fields had once been used for crops, but they now laid abandoned. Some had sprouted fields full of dandelions, others were full of poppies. Anna could remember being told that poppies spread like butter. Once they are in a field, you can't get rid of them. It made Anna think of the battlefields in Europe from the first and second world wars. She couldn't help but wonder if this was how the world felt after the war, because so many had died. Everything felt empty.

Olivia's teeth were chattering, and she pulled her jacket tighter around her body. She should have brought a waterproof like Oliver. The party walked in silence, Anna at the front, Ross and Oliver in the middle and Robson and Olivia bringing up the rear.

Oliver was beginning to think that this was a huge mistake. They had no idea which way the Creepers had gone, and were completely relying on instinct. Normally, Creepers would be easy to track due to the thick layers of waste that seem to be left behind when they move. This time, the rain had washed all of that away. Kirsty would probably be dead anyway. Oliver was growing evermore convinced that this was a waste of time.

Ross breathed in the damp air, trying to let go of his darkest worries. He knew that the others had more experience than he did, but no-one said that made him a wimp. In fact, as soon as the disease had struck, his parents had got into the car and never come home. Ross had been left with his brother, who was 15 at the time. Karl had a sudden heart attack a few days later, leaving him nothing but a dribbling, bloodthirsty wreck. Ross had to stab his own brother, to put him out of his misery. He knew that was not the action of a coward.

"Do you think we'll ever get things back?" Anna asked suddenly, as they passed yet another abandoned car on the puddle soaked road. She had tears in her eyes. The world had become a ghost town, not a child or a Creeper in sight.  
"It's possible," Olivia said, a hint of her old brains blossoming through. "We would have to re-develop everything though. Electricity, Cars. We don't have the knowledge to recreate what the adults did."

The silence was beginning to depress the gang of kids. They waited, following the A17 towards Holbeach as morbidly as they could. Fog had started to gather across the road, and it made Anna uneasy. Fog meant that you couldn't see predators like creepers.  
"Wait!" the cry seemed to split the fog as the dark shadow of a boy ran towards the crowd. Instinctively, they raised their weapons for combat.  
The boy was tall, 6 foot or so, and had a mess of light hair on top of his head. His voice had broken and he had stubble on his face, but he had spots and hadn't finished growing.  
"Callum," Anna said, watching the boy keel over and clutch his side. "Did you run all the way here?"  
The boy nodded, unable to speak through his panting.

"I- wanted-to- come-too," he panted, using his hockey stick to prop himself up. "Let's go."  
Despite Anna's doubts, she had learnt along time ago not to argue with the stubborn fighters. Olivia was just the tip of the ice-burg. People got ruder and meaner than her.

Robson whistled as they walked. It must have been hours now. The rain had stopped, and the wind too. Things were way too quite. In the distance, Robson could make out a roundabout. There were buildings up ahead. Turning into the street Robson instantly felt venerable. With good reason. The group had walked straight into an alley full of Creepers.

"What now?" Oliver growled. He needed a solution fast, but he was a general, and generals follow orders.  
"That's too many for us to take on," Anna decided quickly, "We find another way." As the group turned to retrace there steps, they realised that more Creepers had slithered behind them.  
"How long have they been following us?" Ross asked, raising his fork.  
"Only knows. Looks like we'll be fighting after all," Robson added.

Anna swore at every Creeper she took down. Her blade seemed continually shiny despite the amount of Creepers she seemed to slay. It was always the same; slash a throat, rip a ribcage, stab a back. Of course she had to be careful not to break her sword, but anger seemed to get the better of her in these situations.

Ross poked Creepers as hard as he could with his fork. The sea of bobbing bodies growing closer, and closer. From nowhere, a mother swiped her hand down on Ross' face, causing him to cry out and blood to trickle down his face. He looked as though he was about to faint, but Olivia grabbed him and pulled him by the arm into a circle of protection.

Callum's heart pounded. He had basically come on a suicide mission. They were surrounded, no doubt. Olivia was probably the best fighter, and she was busy holding Ross up. Robson was screaming at Creepers because they had hold of his axe head, and were trying to pull it away from him. Oliver was shooting Creepers by the dozen, but running out of ammo fast. This was hopeless.

Callum was hearing voices. That must have been a sign that it was the end. People yelling and cheering him on, telling him not to give up. Easy for them to say. Callum barged his hockey stick into the crowd of bloodthirsty monsters and twisted it around, violently screaming. Then, like Robson, Callum felt something tug at his weapon. He had to respond fast.

Letting out a mighty roar, Callum pulled the stick back to his body. He nearly fell over Anna as he jolted back, but he managed to stay on his feet.  
"Can you hear that?" Anna suddenly asked. "Those voices?"  
Callum felt his heart leap. He wasn't dying, or crazy. He glanced at the end of his hockey stick, which was still amongst the Creepers. He let out a gasp when he saw a thin, feminine hand gripping it.  
"There are kids on the other side!" he shouted.

Callum's yell stirred something inside Oliver. He had run out of BB pellets and was now whacking Creepers with the butt of his gun. "Let's show them what we've got then!"  
Anna attacked beside Oliver with renewed vigour. Robson managed to dislodge his axe and chopped the top of the head off of a Creeper, and it toppled towards him and leant against his body.

Preoccupied with the Creeper, Robson stared at it's brain, which was now exposed. It looked grey instead of pink, and was almost slushy. "Ewwww!" He squealed as he saw the white maggots wriggling inside.  
"Don't be such a girl!" Olivia replied, pushing the body away from Robson.

Olivia felt a little helpless. She couldn't stab any Creepers with her new knife, because she was holding Ross up. He had fainted at the first tiny pain he even felt, like a baby. She held his fork in her free hand, but that was a poor weapon by anyone's standards.

Anna grinned. The Creepers had been scattered around her like a tornado had just blown through. She could make out the other kids now, finishing off the remaining zombies that weren't clever enough to run. They were safe. For now.

The wind that visited the street sent a chill through the kids. An hours walking had brought boredom for the visitors.  
"Rhys?" Olivia's word dripped out shock.  
And sure enough there stood the dark, tall boy. His build had definitely become more muscular - if possible. He had a floppy afro that replaced his once short hair.  
He stood, his relaxed figure leaning against the wall. His eyes met the group. "Guys?"  
"Yeah," Anna said. And seeing the questioning look added, "Kirsty is missing, we're out to find her." The rest of the team stare at the… girls?  
"Callum!" Rhys exclaimed. Callum smiles as they embrace one another in a way that only boys do.

Robson smiled at the appearance of his old friend. He looked much scarier than he remembered. He wore dark coloured clothes and had a string of Creeper ears hanging from his belt. Robson instinctively took a step closer to Olivia. "I thought you were dead," Robson said bluntly.

Rhys stared back at Robson, before hugging him in a similar way. "Robbie! It's been so long yeah?" Rhys said. Robson raised his eyebrows at Rhys. He hadn't sounded like that when he left.  
"Rhys what happened to your voice?" Robson asked, slightly worried.  
"Oh you know. Like what our teacher used to say, Missus whatsername. You hang around with people for so long you get sounding like them. So after hanging around with this bunch of chavs I've picked up some stuff. You get me?"

Anna blinked and stared at Rhys' 'chavs'. They were all girls. Some fat, some thin. Some tall some short. Rhys was the only boy. She wondered why.

"What's with the ears on you're belt?" Oliver blurted, saying what everyone else was thinking. Rhys chuckled, his low voice echoing off the buildings.  
"Nice to see you an' all Oliver. We're hunters, we kill Creepers and get paid with food by local settlements," Rhys smiled. "The ears are proof of what we do, you know?"

"Why did you even leave?" Anna asked, her voice full of fury. Rhys could act friendly if he wanted, but he had abandoned Terrington a long time ago.  
"Sozza, you are?" Rhys quizzed.  
"Blimey Rhys you don't remember Anna?" Oliver interrupted. "Anna Williams?"

"Jesus Anna you look amazing! I mean, compared to your former nerdy self." Rhys beamed. Anna looked less than impressed. She happened to like her nerdy self more than her current self.  
"Why did you even leave?" Anna repeated, staring Rhys down.  
"I couldn't stand being controlled by the geeks of the world. I wanted power for myself. So I left."  
"And you thought the best way of doing that was to make us believe you were dead?!" Robson yelled back, also feeling abandoned.

"Lay off him guys! It may have escaped your notice but Rhys just saved our arses." Callum defended him. Rhys smiled. "Callum's right. Girls! Ear duty! We'll camp here tonight! Search the buildings!" he shouted at his posse. "I met some mega bad bitches who fight like ninjas. And I love it. How's Amy anyway?"  
"Dead," Robson sulked.

Ross stirred in Olivia's arms. Rhys cast his attention towards him for the first time. "Ross let himself go," he mumbled.  
"Olivia, are you okay with looking after him?" Anna said, concerned.  
"Olivia Cooper? Wow. You look…unrecognisable." Rhys said. Olivia dipped her head. She was unsure whether that was a compliment or an insult.  
"What about you Rhys? You've grown fat whilst other kids starve," she retorted.  
"Can't help being good at what I do." Rhys whispered.

As the day progressed, Rhys chatted with Callum about his life, whilst his girls did all the work; chopping off Creeper ears and lighting a fire. Anna's team were napping where they could. Ross had come around, and was mumbling about Kirsty again. "Rhys, did you see a large group of creepers earlier?" Ross grunted, bolting upright.  
"Come to mention it…there was a load of 'em heading towards Wisbech. We didn't go near 'em." Rhys said calmly.

Ross immediately sprang to life, leaping to his feet. "Come on then!" he exclaimed. "If there's anything we can do for you Rhys…"  
"Actually, there is something you can do for me."  
He stood up, and grabbed two girls by their collars. The girls looked like they were sisters, both with dark skin and tight black curls in their hair. One looked about 13 and the other about 9. The older girl had a scar which ran the full length of her face that almost deformed it, and the younger girl wore a bandana which was purple and covered in printed skulls.

"What do you want Rhys?" the younger girl spat with a lot of venom. She was feisty for her age.  
"Nothing Tiana. You're going with Anna." Rhys then shoved the girl to Ross' feet. Anna stared at him in shock. He wasn't the nicest person at school, but to abuse a young girl like that was something none of them would have predicted.  
"You are not seriously going to send Tia into Wisbech are you?!" the other girl cried. The girls had thick southern American accents.  
"Well she is too young. She compromises our missions. We are not babysitters. You can leave with her if you want." Rhys replied.

The girl stared anxiously at her sister, for what felt to Anna like forever. In the end she just walked away, leaving her sister in the care if a complete stranger. Rhys grinned. He must have been on to something good for a girl to abandon her kid sister like that and choose him instead. It made Anna uneasy. In truth, she thought Rhys was a control freak. She was glad to be taking Tiana away and getting her to the school. She could have a proper childhood there.

Tiana seemed to take an instant liking to Ross, and hugged his legs as soon as she stood. She refused to look at her sister. Who could blame her?

"Let's go," Oliver said. He looked just as sickened by Rhys' performance as everyone else. Everyone upped weapons. They didn't want to stick around.  
"Can I stay with Rhys?" Callum said. Anna felt her mouth topple open. She shrugged.  
"If you want," she droned.  
"Right. Mind how you go. Wisbech is a bit of a hell hole nowadays," Rhys called, waving as the party left down the road. "And if you meet any Wisbech grammar kids….well….Don't trust them."


End file.
